View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What cannot compare with the snow, according to Paul?

2. What does Paul call the balanced stones?

3. What does Paul do with his secret?

4. What word does Paul read in large capital letters?

5. How are the bricks laid in the sidewalks?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the doctor have Paul do to test his eyes, and what is the result?

2. What is the advertisement for in the newspaper Paul finds in the gutter?

3. What does Paul surprisingly say at the end of his examination, and why does it cause everyone to become silent?

4. What is it that the snow informs Paul he will see, and why?

5. How does the doctor attempt to earn Paul's trust and cooperation?

6. What does Paul's mother observe in Paul, and why is it significant?

7. How does Part 3 end, and what is the new sound that Paul hears?

8. How does Paul view the snow at the beginning of Part 4?

9. Where is the snow when Paul first sees it during the examination?

10. What does Paul's mother symbolize at the end of the story?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain what Paul's thought process is pertaining to his secret and hiding it from everyone.

1) Why does it become more valuable to him if no one is aware of it? How does he think it elevates him to a superior place? Which events in the story illustrate that the most?

2) What does Paul think would happen if his parents learned about the snow? How does he think they would react, and why is that an integral part in his decision to keep it from them?

3) What is the sacrifice that Paul is willing to make with regard to his parents? How is his rationalization one of the deepest signs of his detachment? What is so disturbing about it, and why is he unable to understand the severity of what he is thinking?

Essay Topic 2

What does the lesson Paul is sitting in contrast? Why does the author choose this as the place to start his story? In detail, describe the ways that Miss Buell's lesson provides a representation of reality and how Paul is lost in another world. How is the topic of the lesson significant? Why does it help the reader to understand Paul's fascination with snow? Use specific examples of events from Part 1 to support your analysis.

Essay Topic 3

Describe the confusion Paul experiences on his way home from school, what causes it, and why it happens close to his own house. What does the confusion cause him to wonder about? How does it make him more anxious and impatient? What does the confusion actually represent, and why is it important to the character's state of mind?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 927 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample